March 29, 2011

Jake Peavy throws 45 pitches, retires all 13 batters he faces

The reaction from Jake Peavy after retiring all 13 hitters faced during a controlled Minor League intrasquad game Tuesday morning could have been expected. … So Peavy fosters great optimism about Tuesday’s 45-pitch effort, including strikeouts of Alejandro De Aza, Stefan Gartrell and Carlos Quentin, whom he retired four times. He’s also a bit cautious as he works toward a potential late-April return to the Majors.

“We hope, with the medication, the anti-inflammatory and all that good jazz and all the treatment. I’m getting tons of treatment in the training room,” Peavy said. “Hopefully that, and with the shoulder one more time, it will start to taxi that load a little better. We hope that’s something that happens. I’m going to push to make it happen.

“Being able to put those innings on and come back tomorrow and feel normal soreness and not anything that we’d deem painful and not normal soreness. We hope that’s the case and I certainly think having the medication in the system and the treatment we’ve done, that should be reasonable this time.”

A Sunday start for Peavy during extended spring training is next on the agenda, followed by what he hopes will be an April 8 rehab start at Triple-A Charlotte against Norfolk. Peavy will join the White Sox in Chicago on April 9, missing the season opener and home opener, which is a first in his big league career.

If the pitch count continues to rise, possibly hitting the 100 mark in an April 13 rehab start, and the shoulder continues to bounce back, there’s an outside shot Peavy could start for the White Sox on April 20. But as Peavy has promised on a few occasions, he won’t return until he’s completely ready.